Doctor of Dental Surgery
Admissions
Philosophy Of
Admissions
Admission to all programs at the LSUHSC School
of Dentistry (LSUSD) is competitive. The
Admission Committee is charged with the
responsibility of reviewing the applicants and
accepting those who possess the best
credentials. The Admissions Committee is seeking
applicants who demonstrate the ability to
successfully complete the DDS program, who
possess and display compassion and concern for
others, and who will provide the best possible
dental care for the people of Louisiana. LSUSD
is committed to achieving a diverse student
body. Potential students from a variety of
backgrounds who have different life experiences
and exhibit the potential to advance the
profession will be strongly considered. The
Admissions Committee attempts to select the best
possible students from the criteria set below.
Applicants are selected on a rolling basis
meaning that acceptances are made throughout the
interview process. Generally two groups of twelve
candidates each are interviewed before a
committee meeting is held to act on their
applications. The earliest date for
notification of acceptance is the first Monday in December.
Class
Composition
The Admissions Committee
selects 65 students from the applicant pool
for the first year class. At
the present time, 56 slots in the class are
reserved for residents of Louisiana, up to 4 for
Arkansas residents, and up to 15 residents from
other states. For more details on residency
requirements, please click here. After reading the
regulations, if you have questions about
residency, they should be addressed to the
Registrar of the LSU Health Sciences Center
(504-568-4829).
Residency
Admission is restricted to legal residents of
the United States. Admission preference
will be given to residents of Louisiana.
For more details on residency requirements,
please
click here. Residents of Arkansas will be considered under
the guidelines of the Arkansas Health Education
Loan program. Up to 15 students may be
accepted from states other than Louisiana and
Arkansas. Residents of other countries
will not be considered for admission.
APPLICATION
REQUIREMENTS The LSUHSC School of Dentistry
participates in the ADEA administered Associated
American Dental Schools Application Service (AADSAS). All applications for
admission to the first year class of LSUSD must be submitted through this
service. The application is in two parts.
Part I is the AADSAS application process. Part II
is for applicants who have completed
Part I and qualify to receive the supplemental
application directly from the LSUSD Admissions
Office..
You may submit your application to ADEA
beginning June 1 of the year proceeding the year
for which you are seeking admission.
Part
I
- AADSAS (www.adea.org)
- DAT scores released to LSU School of
Dentistry
- $200.00 nonrefundable application fee mailed
directly to LSU School of Dentistry (Check
only-payable to LSUHSC; Memo: Name and AADSAS ID)
Louisiana
State University School of Dentistry Office
of Admissions 1100 Florida Avenue, Box
228 New Orleans, LA 70119
- Send letters of evaluation directly to
AADSAS: 2 basic science professors or 1
pre-professional school committee evaluation.
PART II
- SUPPLEMENTAL APPLICATION AND SUPPORTING
DOCUMENTSOnly qualified applicants, as
determined by the Admissions Committee, will
receive these materials directly from the LSUHSC
School of Dentistry Admissions Office.
Deadlines:
Deadline for filing AADSAS is September 1.
*Early application is highly recommended.
Interviews begin around August 1.*
ADMISSIONS REQUIREMENTS
Credit Hours
A minimum of 90 hours of academic
coursework must be completed at a college or
university accredited by the American Association
of Collegiate Registrars and Admissions Officers
(AACRAO) prior to registration in dental school.
Non-academic courses (i.e. bowling, dancing…) or
courses for specialized fields of study (i.e.
pharmacy, dental hygiene…) are generally not
acceptable.
Degree
Possession of an academic degree is not a
requirement per se for admission to LSUSD. The
vast majority of students, however, do earn a
degree prior to enrollment in dental school. The
degree is evidence of a well-rounded education
with a focus in a particular major and will
greatly enhance the competitiveness of an
application. Completion of your degree is highly
desirable.
Major No
particular major field of study in college is
required for admission to dental school. A
well-rounded educational background with courses
in a variety of subjects is desired. Individuals
have been accepted to dental school who majored in
French, engineering, marketing, etc. Majoring in a
science, however, will make an applicant more
attractive to the Admissions Committee. The
majority of successful applicants to LSUSD have
degrees in biology, zoology, microbiology or
chemistry.
Specific Required
Courses Prior to registration, a student
must complete the following course (with
laboratories where appropriate) requirements:
Biology/Zoology |
12 hours |
General
Chemistry |
8 hours |
Organic
Chemistry |
8 hours |
Physics |
8 hours |
English |
9 hours |
Biochemistry |
3 hours |
Microbiology |
3 hours |
Most successful applicants have completed
substantially more courses than the minimum
suggested. The vast majority of applicants have
degrees in one of the biologic sciences.
Recommended
Courses
The following courses have been
found to be valuable for individuals entering
dental school and should be taken if at all
possible to enhance the competitiveness of an
application:
Comparative
anatomy
Histology
Cell and molecular
biology
Physiology
Genetics
Embryology
Virology
ADMISSIONS
CRITERIA
Major factors considered in the
admissions process:
Academic Ability
LSUSD considers dentistry to be a profession
with a solid scientific basis. Students entering
this educational program must possess a strong
educational base and the ability to comprehend the
basic sciences to build on this existing
knowledge. The following information is helpful to
the Admissions Committee in determining the
intellectual ability of the applicants:
Overall
GPA: This numeric
factor is calculated on the basis of all
academic college work attempted. In other
words, if a student makes an F in a course,
which is subsequently retaken with a grade of B,
both the F and B will be used in calculating the
GPA. Generally a GPA of Above 3.6 is required
for a competitive application.
Science
GPA:
Many studies have shown that science GPA
is one of the best indicators of academic
success in dental school. This average is
calculated from the grades achieved in
biological sciences, chemistry, and physics
courses. In recent years a 3.5 or higher science
GPA has been necessary for a competitive
application.
DAT
Scores: The Dental Admissions Test
(DAT) is a standardized exam, which allows the
committee to compare students from different colleges. The test contains sections on
biology, general chemistry, organic chemistry,
reading comprehension, quantitative reasoning,
and perceptual ability. A target score would be
an academic average of 21 with no single score
lower than 19. The mean
academic average for the 2013 entering class was
20. It is strongly recommended that the
applicant take the DAT prior to the June AADSAS
application process.
Recommendations: Applicants
are required to submit a minimum of two
recommendations from science teachers who have
instructed them in the classroom. A
recommendation from a pre-professional committee
may be submitted in lieu of individual
recommendations. A committee recommendation is
preferred, if available at your school. These letters of evaluation
must be submitted thru AADSAS. These
written statements give the committee insight
into the applicant's characteristics both as a
student and as a person.
Manual
Dexterity Possession
of appropriate hand-eye coordination is considered
essential to a successful application. This
information is obtained from the following
sources:
DAT: The Perceptual
Ability section of the DAT is designed to
measure an applicant's ability to appreciate
sizes, shapes, angles, three-dimensions,
mirror-images, etc. A score of at least 18 is
generally required for an interview. The average
score on Perceptual Ability for the 2013
entering class was 19.
Chalk Carving
Exercise: LSUSD is one of the few
schools still utilizing this test that was once
part of the DAT. It is administered as part of
the interview process and is a timed (35
minutes) exercise. Chalks are scored from 0-10
with a 6 or above generally required to be
competitive for admission.
Click here for chalk
carving instructions and video.
Recommendations: Since
teachers know that manual dexterity is an
important aspect of dental admissions, it is
frequently mentioned in their
letters.
Motivation to be a Dentist
The committee wants to know why the
applicant wants to become a dentist and what
they have done to document that fact. The best
way to do that is to shadow dentists. We
recommend 50 - 100 hours in the offices
of at least three general dentists. The
committee will not consider applicants
for admission who have not shadowed in a general
dentist's office.
Personal
Attributes
Since dentistry is
regarded as the “ultimate people profession,”
possession of the ability to communicate and to
provide and obtain cooperation from other
individuals is highly desirable. Ability to
manage stress, possession of high ethical
standards, demonstrated history of leadership,
demonstrated history of community service and
unique personal attributes are also considered
to be desirable qualities. Other criteria
considered include where in the state the
applicant was raised, a strong motivation to
practice in dentally underserved areas of the
state, as well as whether there were any factors
in the applicant’s background that hindered
his/her level of academic achievement. These
criteria are assessed by:
Personal
Interview: Each
applicant deemed by the committee to be
competitive academically is invited to the
dental school for an extensive interview process.
This process varies from year to year.
Recommendations:
Letters from two science professors or a
pre-dental/professional committee which evaluate
these traits.
Maturity: One of the factors we consider as part of your personal attributes. If there are questions, please email or call yourself. Having your parent, grandparent, neighbor, etc. makes us question your level of maturity.
For more Information
Contact:
Dr. Toby Cheramie
Assistant Dean of Admissions, Student Services, and Alumni
504-941-8124
Fax:
504-941-8123
Email: ds-admissions@lsuhsc.edu
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